Morlais Tidal Demonstration Array Scoping Report Morlais 22nd April 2015 Final Report v1 PB2735 A company of Royal HaskoningDHV HASKONINGDHV UK LIMITED INDUSTRY, ENERGY & MINING 10 Bernard Street Leith Edinburgh EH6 6PP United Kingdom +44 131 555 0506 Telephone Fax [email protected] E-mail www.royalhaskoningdhv.com Internet Document title Morlais Tidal Demonstration Array Scoping Report Document short title Morlais Scoping Report Status Final Report Date 22nd April 2015 Project name Morlais Project number PB2735 Client Morlais Reference PB2735/R/304464/Edin Drafted by Benjamin King Checked by Frank Fortune Date/initials check FF 15/04/2015 …………………. Approved by Frank Fortune Date/initials approval FF 22/05/2015 …………………. …………………. CONTENTS Page 1 NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY 1 1.1 The project 1 1.2 The components 1 2 INTRODUCTION 3 2.1 The developer 3 2.2 Site description 3 2.3 Project overview 7 2.4 Components 7 2.5 Development processes 7 2.6 Pre-scoping consultation 9 2.7 Layout of this document 9 3 PROJECT BOUNDARIES, APPROACH TO EIA AND CONSENTING PROCESS 10 3.1 Geographical boundaries of project components 10 3.2 Approach to EIA- Rochdale Envelope design 10 4 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 12 4.1 Project background 12 4.2 Technology envelope 12 4.3 Overview of technology 12 4.4 Operations and maintenance 21 5 KEY POLICY AND PLANNING LEGISLATION 22 5.1 Policy background 22 5.2 Renewable energy policy Wales 23 5.3 Planning policy and legislation 24 Consenting strategy 27 6 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 28 6.1 Metocean conditions and coastal processes 28 6.2 Marine sediment and water quality 30 6.3 Geology, geomorphology, soils and hydrology 32 7 DESIGNATED SITES AND BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT 36 7.1 Natural Heritage Designated Sites 36 7.2 Benthic ecology 51 7.3 Marine mammals, basking sharks and reptiles 57 7.4 Fish and shellfish populations 62 7.5 Ornithology 71 7.6 Terrestrial and coastal ecology 75 8 HUMAN ENVIRONMENT 78 8.1 Seascape and landscape 78 Morlais Scoping Report PB2735/R/304464/Edin Final Report v1.1 22nd April 2015 8.2 Land use and quality 82 8.3 Commercial fisheries 84 8.4 Shipping, navigation and marine infrastructure 88 8.5 Military activity 93 8.6 Archaeology and cultural heritage 95 8.7 Noise and vibration 98 8.8 Air quality 100 8.9 Tourism and recreation 102 8.10 Aviation 105 8.11 Traffic and transport 106 8.12 Socio-economic 109 9 SUMMARY OF BASELINE CONDITIONS 113 9.1 Physical environment 113 9.2 Designated sites and biological environment 113 9.3 Human environment 113 10 CUMULATIVE IMPACTS AND IN-COMBINATION EFFECTS 114 11 PROPOSED EIA METHODOLOGY 117 11.1 EIA process 117 11.2 The Environmental Statement 117 Morlais Scoping Report PB2735/R/304464/Edin Final Report v1.1 22nd April 2015 MORLAIS REQUEST FOR SCOPING OPINION Menter Mon Cyf is seeking a Scoping Opinion for the proposed Morlais Demonstration Zone, in accordance with Regulation 7 of the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment (England and Wales) Regulations 2000 and in accordance with Regulation 13 of The Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007. After receipt of scoping opinion, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will be undertaken, in support of applications for the following consents, licences and permissions: Consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act, 1989; A Marine Licence under the Marine and Coastal Access Act, 2009; and Planning Permission under the Town and Country Planning Act, 1990. Comment is also sought and welcomed from other stakeholders with an interest in the proposed development. This scoping response has been produced by Royal HaskoningDHV and includes a description of the proposed development, description of baseline environment as currently understood and a description of the approach to the EIA. For further questions relating to the project please contact; James Orme Technical Director Morlais Energy; Neuadd y Dref; Llangefni; Ynys Môn; LL77 7XA. +44 (0) 1248 725 713 [email protected] WWW.MORLAISENERGY.COM Morlais Scoping Report PB2735/R/304464/Edin Final Report v1.1 22nd April 2015 Abbreviations ADCP Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler AfL Agreement for Lease AIS Automatic Identification System AONB Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty CAR Controlled Activities Regulations CCW Countryside Council For Wales CO2 Carbon dioxide DCO Development Consents Order oC Degrees Celsius DIO Defence Infrastructure Organisation DP Dynamic Positioning DECC Department for Energy and Climate Change EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EMF Electro-magnetic field EPS European Protected Species EU European Union HRA Habitats Regulations Assessment HDD Horizontal Directional Drilling IoACC Isle of Anglesey County Council km Kilometre kV Kilovolts LGDU Local Government Data Unit MCAA Marine and Coastal Access Act MCZ Marine Conservation Zone MHWS Mean High Water Springs MMO Marine Management Organisation MOD Ministry of Defence MPA Marine Protected Areas Morlais Morlais Project MPS Marine Policy Statement MSPD Marine Spatial Planning Directive m/s Metres per second m2 Metres Square µm Micrometre NO2 Nitrogen dioxide NSIP Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project NSP Noise Sensitive Properties NRW Natural Resources Wales O&M Operations and Maintenance MW Mega Watt PPG Pollution Prevention Guidelines PTEC Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre RAF Royal Air Force RES Renewable Energy Strategy RoRo Roll-On Roll-Off (vessel) RSPB Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Morlais Scoping Report PB2735/R/304464/Edin Final Report v1.1 22nd April 2015 Abbreviations RYA Royal Yachting Association SAC Special Area of Conservation SCA Seascape Character Assessment SEACAMS Joint approach from Bangor and Swansea Universities. SLVIA Seascape and Landscape Visual Impact Assessment SPA Special Protected Area SSSI Site of Special Scientific Impact TCE The Crown Estate TCPA Town and Country Planning Act TEC Tidal Energy Converter TIA Traffic Impact Assessment UK United Kingdom V Volts WADZ West of Anglesey Demonstration Zone WNMMP Welsh National Marine Plan Spatial Definitions WADZ West Anglesey Demonstration Zone- the area agreed as part of the current Agreement for Lease. This is the currently agreed boundary for the Morlais Demonstration Zone. The project This refers to the Morlais Demonstration Zone and is used to describe the project as a concept and as a built development. Offshore scoping area The offshore scoping area includes the WADZ, plus areas that are being considered as part of a potential change to the current WADZ boundary and with the addition of the cable route, with a buffer of 500m diameter. This is the area primarily used for scoping environmental interests although, for some receptors a wider search area was used, details of which are provided in individual sections. This area includes all areas where development may occur. Substation location area Potential locations have been identified for the onshore substation location; however, final locations have not been determined. This is a general area, centred around the Anglesey Aluminium works, that incorporates potential substation locations. This area is a focal point for onshore scoping within the wider Onshore scoping area. This area includes all areas where onshore development may occur. Onshore scoping area This is the general area that was considered during scoping and represents a 2km buffer centred on the Anglesey Aluminium works. Onshore construction This refers to the footprint of the onshore construction works area Envelope This refers to the Rochdale Design Envelope which seeks to provide a flexible set of technology parameters, in particular, Morlais Scoping Report PB2735/R/304464/Edin Final Report v1.1 22nd April 2015 Spatial Definitions outlining worst case scenarios, against which consent can be granted. Device This is a term used to refer to one unit of tidal technology installation, and includes foundation and tidal energy converter. Morlais Scoping Report PB2735/R/304464/Edin Final Report v1.1 22nd April 2015 1 NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY 1.1 The project Menter Mon Cyf is proposing the Morlais Project to enable the development of the Morlais Demonstration Zone. The project aims to establish Anglesey as a progressive energy hub, whilst maximising opportunities for local communities through both directly through employment and indirectly through the establishment of a local supply chain where possible. The Morlais Project will seek to provide a consented tidal technology demonstration zone with communal infrastructure such as export cables and substations, for tidal technology developers to install and test arrays of tidal energy converters. 1.2 The components The consent application for the Morlais Demonstration Zone will include the following components; Tidal energy devices. As the aim of the Morlais Project will be to install multiple technology types, the consent application will be based on a design envelope (Rochdale Envelope), which will be determined through knowledge of existing technology and the direction of future developments. Offshore electrical infrastructure. Individual developers, depending on their devices, may need to construct offshore energy hubs as part of their array. In addition, there will be a need for offshore electrical hubs for the conversion of energy into an exportable format. Offshore inter-array cables. Inter-array cables will be used to connect individual devices within the array as well as connecting arrays to an offshore electrical hub. Developers will be responsible for connections to the offshore hub